Super Safi’s Monday Morning Musings 101 – Chowder

Morning Musically-Minded, Medically-Minded, Masticators!

(Today’s post is sponsored by the letter “M”)

Over the past 600+ episodes, The Simpsons has taken us on an amazing journey involving music, science, and food to name a few concepts.

And what better way to start your week, than by discussing some of these concepts Monday morning?

So let’s get started this week by talking about a delicious recipe.

In the one hundredth and one episode of The Simpsons, The Boy Who Knew Too Much (Season 05, Episode 20), it’s a beautiful day and Bart is upset he has to go to school. So he provides a fake note from Marge to get out of school. But Krabappel and Skinner are on to him.

When Skinner starts searching for Bart, Bart flees in the back of a car. The car turns out to belong to Freddy Quimby. It takes Bart to Freddy’s 18th birthday.

While Bart is in the kitchen taking a bite out of the giant rice krispie square, Freddy Quimby has an exchange with the French Waiter:

Freddy: “Hey! What the hell is this?”
French Waiter: “It’s a bowl of shaudere [‘chowder’], sir.”
Freddy: “Wait a minute, come here. What did you call it? Say it loud enough so everyone can hear. Come on, say it.”
French Waiter: “Ahem. Shaudere [‘chowder’].”
Freddy, laughing: “Shau-dere? Shau-dere? It’s ‘chowdah’. Say it right!”
Waiter: “Shaudear [‘chowder’].”
Freddy: “Come back here! I’m not through demeaning you.”

Freddy follows the French Waiter into the kitchen. We here some noise and then find the French Waiter injured on the floor as everyone comes into the kitchen.

Chief Wiggum: “Oh my God! Someone’s taken a bite out of the big Rice Krispie square! Oh yeah, and the waiter’s been brutally beaten.”

While it seems that Freddy Quimby will be found guilty in court of injuring the French Waiter, Bart comes clean that he ditched school and tells everyone what happened. The French Waiter slipped on some food which led to a series of clumsy injuries. Bart’s testimony finds Freddy to be innocent.

But have you ever wondered how to make chowder?

Vancouver Style Seafood Chowder

While there are many different chowder recipes, for the sake of this post, here is the recipe for a Vancouver style seafood chowder from Food Network Canada:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) butter
• 1 cup (250 mL) diced yellow onion
• 1 cup (250 mL) diced peeled carrot
• ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
• 2 Tbsp (30 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme
• 3 cups (750 mL) peeled diced potato
• 3 oz (85 g) smoked candied salmon nuggets, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 4 cups (1 L) fish stock (or chicken or vegetable stock)
• 10 oz (280 g) rockfish fillet, cubed (or other firm white fish)
• 1 cup (250 mL) roughly chopped kale
• ½ cup (125 mL) heavy cream
• 1.5 oz (45 mL) white wine

DIRECTIONS

Step 1
Melt butter in soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and salt. Cook for 5 minutes to soften, stirring frequently.

Step 2
Stir in flour and thyme to coat vegetables. Add potato and candied salmon. Pour in stock. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 3
Stir in rockfish, kale and heavy cream. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered, for 10 more minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat. Stir in wine.

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Now that we’ve learned how to make chowder, be sure to come back next week when we continue our Monday morning musings with the next episode of The Simpsons.

Did you remember the episode? What’s your favourite Bart and Skinner-centric episode of The Simpsons? What about your favourite legal/crime themed episode on The Simpsons? Have you ever had chowder? Did you know how to make chowder? Will you try the recipe? Sound off in the comments below. You know we love hearing from you.